Buyer threatening to open case against me BEFORE they have even received the item!

[TotalBummer]

I sold an item on ebay. I have waited a few days for the buyer to pay for it. Since it took a while to pay and the post is a nightmare just now I paid a lot extra for a courier to come and collect it.

I have just received a message from the buyer (the item has just left with the Parcleforce who I paid extra for as the item sold for quite a lot of money) saying "make no mistake on this - I WILL be opening a case against you when I receive the item if it is not in the condition I expect it to be in"!!!!!!!

I checked with Ebay and they said as long as the item is as I described it and I mentioned any defects (which I did along with extra photos) then I should be fine and if they do open a case against me then I can refute it and they will take it from there.

This sucks! I am so sick of Ebay now. People are just out to rip you off.

OH AND it cost me about £4 for all the packing material as they asked for it to be packed specially.

How nasty is that!!! Before they have EVEN RECEIVED IT! AND they never paid for days! Oh I am so pissed off.

Can you perhaps ring ebay and tell them because its a little bit theatening really ? Sounds like they could be trying something on-remain perfectly pleasant offerring full refund minus postage on receipt of returned item-sell tonext highest bidder who hopefully will be much more pleasant ! x

Fab idea. Shame it cost me a fortune to post it :( I just hope they are happy when they get it. Sounds like they are aiming to KEEP the item AND get a refund...

I am sick of Ebay now. That and the price of postage and unreliable or extortionate couriers. Getting pointless.

You can't offer a refund minus the postage. If the buyer is getting shouty now imagine how they will react to an offer like that!

In future. Don't pay extra because they took a long time to pay. Simply post as you stated you would in the listing.
Decide how to pack something prior to listing it. If it is going to cost £x for packaging then charge that (it should never cost more than £1) Even if they ask for extra special bells and whistles packaging, pack it how you would normally - because normally of course you would pack it adequately.

Don't get in a conversation when they start getting nasty. Report anything that can be reported. If a dispute is opened, respond to it calmly and factually. If they pre-empted a problem and then proceeded to complain about the same problem, point this out in your reply to the dispute.

The buyer's address isn't a PO box is it?

and them block them from ever buying from you again...

That is so rude, in what exile would they get to keep item and have money refunded?